It was almost painful to walk away, but I did. I moved to the side of the tub with the faucet and twisted the knobs. Water poured from the head and began filling the tub. I moved to the shower knobs and twisted them off, so the only sound was the water pouring into the copper basin.
From the shelf beside the tub, I grabbed the lavender bubble liquid the decorator had purchased. But as I went to twist off the top, my hand and arms cramped. This time the tightness drew all the way up to my shoulder, extending my arms and fingers as far out as they would go. The bottle dropped from my grasp and bounced on the tile floor, liquid spurting out along the way.
“Asher! Oh my God, are you ok?” Addison ran over to me, concern written all over her face, but I shook my head.
“No. Don’t.”
After another minute passed, the tightness and pain eased up, and I was able to shake my hands free. Addison never pulled back from me. She stood by silently, her hand running up and down my back in comfort.
Fuck, the last time anyone had tried to comfort me was when I had been sick with the flu when I was four. Mom did her best to nurse me back to health. My parents separated the next week.
I shook out my arms as I worked to remove the memories from my mind.
“Are you okay, Asher?” Addison asked, but I ignored her. It was a dick move, but I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Though, if I knew her, she was going to press. It wasn’t for selfish reasons, though. Addison was like her dad and wanted to fix things for people.
The doctor that diagnosed me mentioned that talking about it could help me come to terms with the disease. He had even provided a list of online therapists that I could contact. I had immediately shut him down, but maybe talking to Addison would help. It wasn’t like she would tell anyone. If there was a single person that I could trust with any of this, it would be her.
Stepping toward the bottle of bubbles that had fallen, I worked to clean up the mess. Thankfully there was still a good amount of the liquid in the container, so I poured a bit into the tub of water that was almost full.
She wouldn’t have a heaping amount of the suds, but it would still smell nice.
“Let me help you in,” I said to Addison as I held my hand out for her. She looked down at my extended palm and fingers, then back up to my face. As she placed her hand in mine, I wondered what was going through her head or if she was simply gauging my reaction to her touch.
“Wow,” she exclaimed as she settled into the warm water. She looked gorgeous resting back against the copper walls of the tub, surrounded by delicate bubbles. “This is really nice. I’m going to be over every day to use this, you know.”
“I’m good with that,” I replied with a smirk. I’d do anything to have to over now that we’d decided to throw caution to the wind.
Moving to the faucet, I turned off the water and turned my gaze out to the backyard. The picturesque setting was calming.
“Won’t you join me?”
I glanced over my shoulder to find Addison’s face perched on her crossed elbows on the edge of the tub, watching me.
“Of course.”
Timidly I stepped into the hot water. It was warmer than I preferred, but I’d read somewhere that women liked their water just on the side of scalding. Addison seemed perfectly content with the temperature.
The tub was large enough for us to sit across from each other without feeling squished. Honestly, it was the size of a miniature pool.
I reached for her foot beside me and began running the heel of my hand against the arch. Smiling as she moaned and slid further into the water.
“Christ, you’re never going to get me to leave if you keep doing that.” I chuckled as I moved to the other foot.
I was distracting her and I was pretty sure she knew, but Addison closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the tub.
When I stopped, I realized that it wouldn’t be long before she’d begin her questions.
“So.”
“So,” I repeated.
“Written any new songs lately.”
“A couple.”
“Good. Good. What are they?”
She was making small talk and I was okay with that. I described the ballads and rock anthems I’d been writing, mesmerized by the way her finger lazily drew across the top of the water.